3 Chemists Win Nobel for Computer Modeling Work

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The Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded jointly to three
scientists for laying the foundation for powerful computer models
that are used to understand and predict complex chemical
processes.

Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel won the
Nobel in chemistry "for the development of multiscale models
for complex chemical systems," according to a statement by the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences today (Oct. 9).

The trio's work was notable because they were able to apply both
classical physics (that laid out by Isaac
Newton ) and
quantum physics to their models of chemical processes and
reactions. For instance, the quantum calculations were performed
on the
atoms and electrons within larger molecules, while classical
calculations could simulate the reactions of these larger
molecules.

Beginning in the 1970s, Warshel and Karplus worked to develop a
computer model of retinal, a molecule in the eye's retina that
has "free electrons," or those that can hop between atomic
nuclei. While their model could handle both quantum and classical
physics to simulate retinal, it could only simulate those
molecules with mirror symmetry. That's where Levitt came in.
Levitt and Warshel worked for several years, overcoming many
obstacles, in their quest to develop a program that would allow
quantum and classic theory to work side-by-side in a computer
model of any type of molecule. [ Photos:
Stunning Peek Inside Molecules ]

"Today the computer is just as important a tool for chemists as
the test tube," according to a statement by the Academy.
"Simulations are so realistic that they predict the outcome of
traditional experiments."

Karplus, who was born in 1930 in Vienna, is a U.S. and Austrian
citizen. He received his doctoral degree in 1953 from Cal Tech
and is now at Université de Strasbourg, France, and Harvard
University.

Levitt, who was born in 1947 in Pretoria, South Africa, is a
U.S., British and Israeli citizen. He received a doctoral degree
in 1971 from the University of Cambridge in the UK and is now at
Stanford University School of Medicine.

Warshel, who was born in 1940 in Kibbutz Sde-Nahum, Israel, is a
U.S. and Israeli citizen. He received his doctoral degree in 1969
from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and is now at
University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

The three Laureates will share equally the award of $1.25 million
(8 million Swedish krona).